Bubba Can't Bypass the Past

BY now the nation has absorbed the jolting news of former President Clinton's quadruple heart bypass, which he attributes to genes and bad diet. Americans surely must be asking themselves: Why, oh, why didn't we see this coming? Like that intrepid journalist in "Citizen Kane," let's take a trip back through the archives in search of the 42nd president's "Rosebud." Turns out that as leitmotifs go, this one's pretty heavy. Here are excerpts. TOM KUNTZ

Fatty Foods, the Early Years

The Hope, Ark., high school senior shows early promise as a bon vivant:

"The rest of senior year passed with lots of good times with my friends, including lunches at the Club Cafe, with the best Dutch apple pie I've ever had, movies, dances at the Y, ice cream at Cook's Diary and barbecue at McClard's, a 75-year-old family place with arguably the best barbecue and unquestionably the best barbecue beans in the whole country."

"My Life," by Bill Clinton; Knopf, 2004

Little Chelsea Clinton, used to seeing her father in a certain setting, gets the wrong idea about what Dad does for a living:

"When my daughter started preschool and she was asked what her father did, she said that he works at McDonald's."

Clinton joke on Take Our Daughters to Work Day, 1998

Mr. Clinton goes to Washington. After a jog, the president-elect stops at a McDonald's a few blocks from the White House, and says fast food helps him understand America:

"That's why I go [to McDonald's] at home -- to see a reasonable range of America -- all the problems and opportunities. I enjoyed it."

But, in what seems one of the canniest decisions in the annals of promotion, McDonald's keeps its distance:

"We are thrilled and happy that he visits our restaurants, but we have no plans to use that in any of our advertising," says spokeswoman Rebecca Caruso from McHeadquarters in Oak Brook, Ill. "It's just not something we've considered." Washington Post, Dec. 24, 1992

Pressure builds as children petition the president-elect to give up junk food. In a surprise, Mr. Clinton tells Diane Sawyer of ABC News that he already has -- although it all depends what your meaning of the phrase junk food is:

"I don't necessarily consider McDonald's junk food, you know. I eat at McDonald's and Burger King and these other fast-food places. A lot of them have very nutritious food. You know, they have chicken sandwiches, they have salads, they got all kind of things."

But life is not so simple now. Clinton recently ordered a Domino's pizza, only to have the Secret Service insist that he not eat food prepared by an unknown chef. (A reliable source says the president secretly got the pizza he wanted anyway.)

Boston Globe, April 14, 1993

Late-night TV wags turn on the first lady's efforts to improve the president's diet:

"Hillary Clinton went to the supermarket yesterday. She bought a mango, a squash, a jicama and rice. No wonder Clinton's always going to McDonald's."

Jay Leno, "The Tonight Show," Aug. 19, 1994

On Nov. 17, 1995, the president gets one of the most fateful pizza deliveries in history:

During the 1996 campaign Clinton plays pizza to his advantage against his challenger, Senator Bob Dole. The Dole camp had asked voters which of the candidates they'd trust to take care of their children, implying the Kansas Republican was the people's choice. But Time magazine finds they don't call Mr. Clinton the Comeback Kid for nothing:

At the White House Correspondent's Dinner on May 4, Clinton took up the Dole child-care challenge by upping the ante. "Suppose you go home tonight and you decide to order a pizza. Who do you trust to select the toppings? Bob Dole or Bill Clinton?"

So we asked. The results:

Clinton 54%

Dole 26%

Not sure 20%

Time, May 20, 1996

The President serves up what many consider a whopper on a Sunday morning talk show:

Tim Russert: "This is a fun one. We asked, what is the image you have of Bill Clinton? Forty-two percent said playing the saxophone; 40 percent running in jogging shorts; 7 percent playing golf; 6 percent eating at McDonald's."

"Clinton says he hasn't eaten at McDonald's since he's been in the White House. That's because he sends Al Gore over to the drive-through."

David Letterman, "The Late Show," Nov. 10, 1997

Surveying flood damage in North Dakota, the president's empathy turns to wonder at the whims of nature:

High in his helicopter, President Clinton was staring forlornly at Red River when something caught his eye.

"The McDonald's is dry!" he told fellow Marine One passengers as a smile spread across his face. "The Pizza Hut is, too, but you can't get to it."Associated Press, April 22, 1997

At a rally in Michigan, the president passes the torch to Vice President Al Gore as the Democratic presidential nominee. Afterward, it's Mickey D time, according to a CBS News account:

John Roberts: "Even as he made a carefully choreographed exit from the stage, the president couldn't help but make news, heading straight to a McDonald's for the first time in years."

(Taped segment.)

Clinton: "I just couldn't resist."

Unidentified woman: "We're going to miss you."

Clinton: "French fries and a chicken sandwich."

CBS News Transcripts, Aug. 15, 2000

A global ambassador in retirement, the ex-president exports his appetite to Blackpool, England, joined by the actor Kevin Spacey. A local newspaper relates the moment through an eyewitness:

Office worker Mary Caldwell was stunned to see the famous pair out for a late-night meal with Labor spin doctor Alastair Campbell. The trio gorged on junk food just hours after the Labor Party conference gala dinner in Blackpool on Tuesday.

Flanked by burly bouncers, they walked into McDonald's on the Golden Mile and ordered up a £15 feast. Clinton, famed for his love of fast food, ordered a Steak Premiere meal with large fries, his actor pal opted for a quarter-pounder meal, while Campbell munched on a Big Mac and fries.

The trio also shared 20 chicken nuggets and washed the meal down with three Cokes. And, after sampling the culinary delights of Blackpool, Clinton was overheard remarking to Campbell: "Aah lurve this place."

Word for Word Correction: September 19, 2004, Sunday The Word for Word column last Sunday, a selection of excerpts about former President Clinton and fast food, misidentified the town where he attended high school. It is Hot Springs, Ark.; Hope is his birthplace.